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Welcome to my blog, where I take pleasure in words and pictures, be they my own or those of others. I'm a creative individual, and the crafty side I explore on my 'other blog', Picking Up The Threads, which I hope you'll visit too. I'm sure you understand that I have sole copyright of my original work and any of my contributions, so please ask if you want to use them. A polite request is rarely refused. So, as they used to say on the BBC's 'Listen With Mother' radio programme, many years ago: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin."

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

To The Lighthouse

'Playing With Light’ is the theme Carmi at written.inchas presented us with this week. His own picture prompt is something of a mystery, which I am sure he will reveal later in the week, but has the look of something from out in Space. My own choice is somewhat nearer home. I am lucky to live in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote and I have sweeping views of the coast. The lighthouse or Faro de Pechiguera, is a local landmark, which I see daily from my window, and when I lie in bed at night I can count the beats of the strobing light filtered through the skylights onto my bedroom wall. There are actually two lighthouses side by side, an older and a newer version. César Manrique, the architect of the island, had hoped to put in place a string of lighthouses around the coast, but sadly the project was never completed. One day last year we took a stroll along the beach in late afternoon, when a dark cloud appeared over the lighthouse. Suddenly an aperture appeared and sun shone through, creating a halo of light around the lighthouse. The giver of light had become the recipient. I grabbed the camera and took the following shots. Then we walked round to the lighthouse itself and watched as the clouds moved over the Bocaina Straits between here and Fuerteventura, turning the sea the colour of copper. Finally the clouds shed their load of raindrops out at sea, but with the backdrop of the sun’s glow.

If you are tempted to visit, you can find out more about Playa Blanca here.

16 comments:

Let there be light. You just have to wait for nature and hope you have a camera at the right time. Good job you had Nell. One of the most fascinating nights I had was on Teneriffe at night on an astronomical tour with a guide who could explain the stars we could see in the night sky. No camera could do it justice.Fine shots Nell, especially that first one.

Absolutely magnificent shots. To witness this without a camera would have been exciting enough, but to capture it and be able to share the memory goes beyond that.With all the technology in the world, the best photographs are when nature provides us with unprompted beauty like this. The sky and sea entertain me for hours like nothing else can.A brilliant choice for the theme.

Ah yes, perhaps this is where the giver of light gets its forever glow! What a beautiful place to live near enough to grab your camera and still gather such stunning photos! Added with the joy of having a lighthouse to stroll around and any given moment...you are blessed! I really enjoy reading your insights of life around you!

Glorious pictures which seem to capture the scale - the scale of the sea, the sky, that Lanzarote landscape - so well. I can't really join in with the theme this week (I am tied in to my tour through my own archives) but hopefully I will be with you again next week.

Absolutely stunning! Whenever I see pictures like yours, where the sun's rays fan out from the clouds above, I can't help but think of how small we all are, and how humbling it can be to watch the planet go through its paces.

I often stand by the ocean or a Great Lake and watch the sky evolve. It's a time and a place that can both bring me peace, and your pictures evoke that feeling in spades. What a great way to reflect the theme!

(Oops, almost forgot. My theme launch picture was of a jellyfish. The light was very dim, and they were moving very quickly. So getting a sharp, tight shot was a challenge, especially given the crowds of onlookers at the aquarium who kept getting in my way. Eventually I got what I wanted, though, so it was worth it.)

Awesome shots! When I see light shining in a seemingly pointed direction, as on the lighthouse, I have to pause and ponder that point in time. What it might mean to me might differ for others, but for a moment, at least, I am focused on beauty and energy that mankind can never duplicate. For that moment I am outside myself. Call it a "God wink".

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About Me

I am a retired primary school headteacher who moved to Lanzarote for the year-round sunshine, the amazing landscape and the slower pace of life (Mañana really means mañana here). I have been married for 39 years, have a son and daughter and 6 year-old twin grandchildren. I relish the time to do what I like at last; get up when I want to, go to bed when I want to. Of course there are things I miss about England: the song of the robin and blackbird in my garden and watching the blue-tits nesting, the theatre, the art galleries, the cathedrals, but I get my fix on the visits back to Blighty and travels further afield. This is my home now, in every sense.